Mass Effect: Reconstruction
by Steelcan
Summary: Post-Destroy Fanfiction ending. Will follow Commander Thomas Shepard, Admiral Hackett, and two original characters. Will focus on rebuilding galactic society after the Reaper War. Will be uploading new chapters soon
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect: Reconstruction

This is my alternate fiction, and really my canon. Commander Thomas Shepard (yes the same name). Post destroy ending, this story follows Shepard's decision in the chamber and its immediate and long term consequences. Will specifically follow Shepard and two new original characters, a newly promoted Admiral in the Alliance navy, and his second in command, a master tactician and strategist.(will give their backstory in a chapter)

Commander Shepard felt the roar and pain of what seemed like thousands of knives piercing his brain. It was the echo of Harbinger's indoctrination attempt on Shepard's mind. He could hear the voice, that terrible voice still in his head. "Cease your struggle Shepard, succumb and it will be over". Shepard continued his march towards the tubes that prevented the Crucible from firing. He raised his gun and squeezed the trigger.

He thought of his friends. He thought of Joker, EDI, Garrus, Javik, Wrex. He remembered the fallen. Mordin sacrificing himself to save the Krogan, Thane who died a hero to save Councilor Valern, Ashley left behind on Virmire while Shepard secured the bomb site, Legion dying to save his people, The Illusive Man, so desperate to help humanity that he lost himself in the process. Anderson, the stalwart guardian of humanity. He thought of Miranda. Her confidence, her skills, her beauty. The feel of her skin, the smell of her hair, and the warmth of her smile kept him going. They all kept him going.

He pulled the trigger again. Each round caused a new shriek in his mind. "You will submit to us. Your defiance is at an end! You are nothing to us. We will continue, you will fail. Surrender. NOW!". The voice became more and more hostile as each bullet squeezed out. Shepard could sense the desperation in Harbinger's voice, and he knew it was almost over. "CEASE THIS FUTILE STRUGGLE! WE WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO". He continued down the path before him and pulled off several more shots. He could see the cracks in the tube and the bullet holes 'Almost there' he said partly to himself, partly to the voice that listened to his every thought.

"SHEPARD WE OFFER YOU DOMINATION AND YOU THROW IT AWAY, WE OFFER PEACE AND YOU REFUSE. WE WILL STOP YOU"

Shepard heard the thunderous chorus that the voices echoed inside his own mind. He looked back and saw the Catalyst standing there, furious, bubbling with rage. His eyes revealed his true nature. They glowed pale yellow staring at him like miniature suns. The apparition then disappeared. Shepard turned around and saw red lightning, similar to Sovereign's control over Saren, stretch out from the cracks and arc over the Citadel. Shepard raised his gun again and kept pulling the trigger. His barrage opened the tube further, and more red light shone forth in a spectacle unlike anything he had ever seen. Magnificent arches of lightning stretched out in every direction, burning the air and melting the metal it touched.

An explosion threw Shepard back and the maddening voice of Harbinger ended abruptly. Shepard looked up and saw the Catalyst hovering above him. He was different though. His shape was more ethereal, no real structure, the only things that Shepard could make out were his still glowing eyes. But now there were six yellow suns that glared at him.

"FOOL, YOU HAVE DOOMED YOUR SELF AND ALL YOU KNOW TO EXTINCTION. YOUR SPECIES WILL BE ELIM-"

"Shut up. I've shown you what organics can do. We have shown you what we are capable of"

"YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL CREATE SYNTHETICS AND WITHOUT US TO SAVE YOU,ALL THAT YOU WERE WILL BE LOST"

"BULLSHIT! You have no idea what will happen! You have killed trillions of people, now it's your turn. Organics will evolve and we will overcome any challenge. We don't need your help, we don't want it. You are finished". The last words came out as a whisper.

The "Catalyst" searched for the right words but could not find them. Shepard glared at the mass before him and wore a smirk born of satisfaction. "It's over". He then turned and made his way to the lift. Behind him the Citadel was pulsing with the red lightning. The Crucible started to glow red and out of the corner of his eye Shepard saw allied ships jump to FTL to escape. The glowing red pulse started to form a sphere that emanated from the Crucible and slowly started expanding.

Harbinger finally found his voice. "Shepard, when all you know is ashes, know that WE would have saved you from the fires of war. When the created overthrow their creators, know that it will be your fault. We were the harbingers of humanity's perfection and salvation, but you have thrown it away. And your children will curse the day that you doomed them to war and death unending."

As the lift carried Shepard back down, the crimson envelopment reached the Catalyst. His immense form faded as it was engulfed by the sphere. Red lightning arced across his body. His shrieks of death shook the very foundations of the Citadel, tearing apart sections of the station. Shepard saw the last bit of him vanish in a brilliant show of golden light. His eyes shattered into millions of specs of light that were doused by the tide that covered them.

This is Chapter 1. Chapter 2 coming soon(ish). Please review and give me some

constructive criticism. I know I'm not the best writer and I appreciate any

feedback I get that can make me a better one.


	2. Chapter 2

This is Chapter two of Mass Effect: Reconstruction

Shepard was panicking. The Citadel was ripping itself apart and he was still on board. He had just recovered Anderson's dog tags and was now scurrying back towards the room he originally came up in. As he enters the narrow hallways, the stench of burning flesh burrowed into him. He gagged in the fumes as he slowly crawled towards, what he hoped, was his escape from the death trap that was the Citadel.

He finally crawled over the last pile of necrotic mush. He tumbled just short if the beam. It was sputtering, its ability to maintain itself strained by the colossal forces at work on the Citadel. Shepard crawled towards it, inching towards the glowing ray of safety. He struggled and struggled to cover the last few feet before him. He heard off in the distance a sundering noise. The Presidium itself was ripping apart. He finally entered the beam and turned just in time to see a monstrous inferno of flame and lightning engulf him.

Then nothing.

** To all Allied Forces**

-This is a priority hail. To any Allied Forces receiving this. All signs of

Reaper activity have ceased. Elements of the Alliance 5th fleet have returned

to Sol and have confirmed that all Reaper forces have been neutralized. Repeat,

all Reaper forces have been neutralized.

-Our first priority is to reestablish communications with both the fleets and

planets. Any forces relieving this hail, respond with your identity,

coordinates, and situation. If possible begin rendezvous with other forces. It

seems most of us have been scattered across Inner Council Space and the Attican

Traverse. Our attempt to rendezvous in the Widow system failed, and so we will

begin preparation to receive any Allied forces in Sol. We realize that

resources will be strained, but Sol's central location will allow us to regroup

and begin reparations in an efficient manner.

**-Admiral Steven Hackett, Admiral of Systems Alliance navy, and acting Human

Councilor.**

Admiral Hackett turned from the QEC device and stared out the Observation flagship, the SSV Olympus, was staring out over the charred ruin of theCitadel.

(****. His flagship, the Olympus, and two other Dreadnoughts, Etna, and Vesuvius had been constructed in secret following the battle of the Citadel. They had been built in space past the Gagarin Station. This allowed their construction to proceed in secret, away from the council's prying eyes. The Vesuvius and Etna formed the core of a new 9th fleet. This fleet was designed to be reaper killers. The Olympus, Etna, and Vesuvius were all armed with Thanix cannons. The two Carriers in the group,SSV Machiavelli and Achilles, were also designed with cutting edge technology. This fleet entered service approximately three weeks before the Reapers attacked Earth. They had been spared the devastation other fleets suffered.

They became responsible for numerous covert attacks against both the Reapers and Cerberus. The liberation of Benning, the extraction of Elcor civilians from Dekkunna, and the seizure of the Collector Base from Cerberus just prior to the attack against Earth, we're all accomplished by the 9th.*****)

Blackened Reaper carcasses drifted by, two Reaper Capitol ships collided and shattered into pieces. Alliance and Turian ships half melted by Reaper lasers passed by Hackett's ship. He sighed and muttered to himself, "it's over". Those words seemed alien to him. For the past few months every day was a challenge. Each new day brought more bad news and disaster followed disaster. Now he could tell himself that it was all over, and tomorrow would be a better day. His thoughts turned to Shepard, 'what had happened to him?'. He had gotten up on the Citadel, that much he knew but after that he really did not know what happened. He had seen the Crucible arming itself and then he ordered the retreat. His ships had been pulled out of FTL near Arcturus, and once they had seen the relays were non functional they had started back towards Earth.

Hackett had already ordered the Alliance Engineering Corp to begin rebuilding critical parts of the Citadel. Based on their reports it would be another year or so before the Citadel was capable of coordinating the relays. Until then conventional FTL would be the only option for space travel, QEC enabled instantaneous communication but travel was crippled for the time being.

He knew the next few weeks were critical. He had already begun relief operations on Earth as well as cataloging the extent of casualties suffered by allparticipants in the battle over Earth.

He stepped back into the QEC and was able to reach Matriarch Persinna Tanira of the Asari 6th fleet, Admiral Han'Gerrel of the Quarian Heavy Fleet, Admiral Lossar Weenop of the Salarian 3rd fleet, and General Reman Manix of the Turian 7th fleet. They held a council of sorts in order to decide what to do next.

Matriarch Persinna was already en route to Sol. General Manix was reluctant to agree to rendezvous at Sol. He was worried that Dextro amio acid food supplies would be too stretched with Turian and Quarians in the system.

"How long can you survive with the stores you already have?"-Hackett

"Maybe... 6, 7 months" -Admiral Gerrel

"What about you Manix?" -Hackett

"Probably about a year on starvation rations"-General Manix

"Is it possible for you to re-supply any time soon? We need everyone back at Earth to repair the Citadel, the more people we have, the faster it will go"

" No, we cannot resupply within the foreseeable future. I think our best option is to go back to Sol and start rebuilding the Citadel. The Heavy Fleet will be there within the next few weeks Admiral. We realize that our own supply shortages will likely not get us back to Rannoch. It is my belief that we should instead pool our resources and fix the Citadel first."

"Manix do you agree?"

"I see where Admiral Gerrel is coming from. We will be back at Sol as soon as possible in order to aid in reconstruction efforts."

Hackett stood in contemplation for a few minutes before powering the QEC again. He wanted to talk to the Admiral in charge of the 9th fleet. Rear Admiral Gideon Carter.

Chapter 3 coming soon(ish)


	3. Chapter 3

Admiral Gideon Carter closed the QEC. He had just received his orders from

Hackett. He sat down and pondered what he had just been told. He had just been ordered to begin collecting the reaper hulks. Hackett had told him that the Alliance fleets were beginning relief efforts on Earth and repair efforts on the Citadel, this left the destroyed reaper and allied ships floating in space. The 9th fleet's duty was to secure the destroyed reaper remains. He was to secure them and transport them to Mars. He was told that an Alliance research station would receive and begin examining them.

The other ships, the allied forces ships, were being collected and towed to a

ship graveyard in orbit over Luna. When the other species were able to return to collect their dead and destroyed ships the ships would be waiting. These Allied ships were being collected by the Third fleet. Most of the first, sixth,and eight fleets were still en route to Sol. The fifth fleet had already returned and was beginning relief operations to the major cities still left standing, not many. The Alliance Engineering Corps had gone ahead and already had begun repairing the Citadel. They had towed the damaged ward sections back into position and were now cannibalizing the Crucible to get the necessary materials needed to repair the arms.

Gideon surveyed the scene outside his observation deck. His ships were already attaching to the reaper hulks for the smaller destroyers and for the larger capital ships they were installing massive drive cores on board and then using dreadnoughts and carriers to jump the larger reapers to the research station. He was sliding back into his chair opening up his scotch and ready to...

The intercom opened up and his second in command, Renault Cuvier, barged into

Gideon's serenity.

"Sir, we have a problem" -RC

"Do you have to bother me with this right now?" -GC

"I'm afraid I do sir, I've just intercepted a transmission from-"

"I thought you said this was important? Get to the point already"

"Very well ( a hint of annoyance barely crept into Renault's voice), the

transmission I intercepted seems to be a message, heavily encrypted, passed from an unknown source to the research station we are bringing these...ships."

"And?"

"It's the same signature as the others, sir"

"That's... Not possible. ( his anger noticeably gave way to alarm). I thought we took care of that back at the Collector base?"

"When we seized the base he must have gotten away"

"Contact Hackett immediately. If there is a Cerberus mole still on this ship it needs to be dealt with, very quickly."

"Aye aye"

Gideon immediately rushed to his feet and opened up a comm link with the other captains in his fleet. He let them know the situation and ordered them to monitor all frequencies any message might possibly be passed on. The Cerberus operative had already cost them a great deal. Gideon shuddered to think what he might pull next. An entire dreadnought brought down because of one virus from one message to one person. The mole on board the fleet had so far avoided detection, despite the increased security measures that had been implemented after the coup attempt.

He resolved not to let the Cerberus operative compromise his fleet anymore. The

mole and his Cerberus counterpart had been a pain in his side for too damn long.

First they leaked fleet positions and strengths, then they had hindered the 9th

fleet's part in the liberation of Benning. Most recently, and most damagingly,

they had caused the the destruction of the newest Alliance dreadnought, the SSV

Etna, while the 9th fleet was seizing the Collector Base right before the attack

on Earth. His own flagship, the SSV Vesuvius had almost been destroyed while

they held the Charon Relay from Reaper reinforcements.

He knew that whatever the mole and his Cerberus handler were up to, it could not be good. He had to figure out who the mole was, and he needed help to do it. He needed someone familiar with Cerberus, someone who was smart and well

connected enough to help him hunt down this asshole. He knew he needed someone who had been on the inside of Cerberus, but he did not know where to start. There was only one person who would be able to help him. And he was MIA. He needed to find Commander Shepard.

While Admiral Carter was busy with the other Captains, Captain Renault Cuvier

was preparing his own little victory celebration. He shut off the auditory

emulators in his cabin, he pulled out a few cigars, some brandy, and turned on some music. Today was Beethoven's 6th symphony in F major. As the music flooded his ears he sat back and stared out. He was without a care in the world right now. He was not particularly alarmed buy the mole's continued existence. In fact he relished the challenge of trying to find him.

He was already ready to leave active service. After the reapers and Cerberus

were defeated there was not much need for an intelligence officer like him

anymore. Peace had finally come to the galaxy, at least for now he thought to himself. He knew that after he dealt with this mole he would be able to retire on a high note and live out the rest of his life listening to his music, drinking his brandy, and smoking his cigars. Yes, he thought to himself, I'm almost done. He leaned back in his chair and stared out the window looking out on the absolute devastation that stretched out before him, but right now, to him, there was no sight prettier in the whole galaxy.


End file.
